The chain conformation of sodium poly(styrenesulfonate) (NaPSS) in the semidilute aqueous solution, estimated from the plots of reduced viscosity versus segmental concentration, was found to be dependent on the degree of sulfonation and dissociation extent of counterions. The latter, altered by the content of sodium chloride external salt, was estimated from the ionic conductivity measurements on the basis of the modified Manning's conductivity theories with consideration of the influence of chain overlapping in the semidilute regime. The results indicate that the increase of chain extension of NaPSS with counterion dissociation was further enhanced by increasing the degree of sulfonation. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.